Upcoming Events: Beer, [Crawfish] Boils and Burgers

It's shaping up to be a busy couple of weeks around here as "Spring" "comes" to Houston. God, shoot me now. I can't make it to August like this.

Ahem.

Tomorrow, get your hands dirty at the 2012 Crawfish Festival in the Heights. Admission is free and Dr. Gleem Car Wash -- you know, the one that houses the amazing Facundo Cafe that we just reviewed last week -- will be giving away 1,000 free car wash vouchers with the first 1,000 plates of crawfish purchased. Each plate costs $20, but you get two pounds of crawfish (guaranteed, unlike AYCE events...), corn, potatoes and a drink. The festival will take place at the SSQQ Dance Hall (1431 West 20th Street) from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Brooklyn Brewery brings it brews to town in the Houston Beer Experiment.

Photo courtesy of Theo Peck

The Houston Beer Experiment will pits amateur chefs against one another in a professional-level cooking competition, judged by Chef Chris Shepherd of Underbelly, Chef Adam Dorris of Stella Sola and Jenny Wang (lead Houston Chowhound and producer of Southbound Food). The winner gets a mean prize package and it's open to the public, so get your $10 tickets to see which home cook makes the best dish with the key ingredient: beer.

The Yuck Felp party -- don't make me spell this one out for you -- will also take place that afternoon, at the Hubcap Grill location on 19th Street. Owner Ricky Craig has bought eight kegs of local brew -- No Label Brewing, Karbach, Saint Arnold and Southern Star -- and plans to float them all. There will be live music, plenty of burgers (of course) and a bake sale to support Team Liverstrong. Get there by 4 p.m.

Trust me; you want to go to this Lucky Dog dinner.

Photo by Katharine Shilcutt

For something a little sweeter, book your spot now for Lucky Dog's next Sweet & Savory dinner on April 1 at Ralph Smith Photography Studio (5226 Elm). And even though it's on April Fool's Day, this next part is no joke: Head chef Rebecca Masson has invited her friends and contestants from Top Chef: Just Desserts to join her in cooking the multi-course meal.

The chefs featured at this Sweet & Savory Dinner include: Carlos Enriquez of Pastry Solutions in Los Angeles; Adam Garcia of Revival Market; Jason Gould of Cyclone Anaya's; Katzie Guy-Hamilton of New York Central at the Grand Hyatt NYC; Jason Hill and Matt Opaleski from H-Town StrEATS; Megan Kevoker of the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza; Craig Poirier, pastry chef from Las Vegas; Amanda Rockman of The Bristol and Balena in Chicago; and Philip Speer of Uchi/Uchiko in Austin. Seating is limited to 125 people and tickets are on sale now for $100 via Lucky Dog Rescue.

Finally, save some room for the upcoming Saint Arnold beer dinner at Sullivan's Steakhouse on Wednesday, March 7. Executive Chef Teli Trikilis and his team will prepare a menu designed to pair with selections from Saint Arnold, such as pork tenderloin, chicken fried Kobe beef steak and Texas peach bread pudding. The dinner is $55 a person; call 713-961-0333 for reservations.